[tptacek]

Two things are probably happening here.

First: there are people who flag these kinds of stories, for more than one reason (some people, for instance, just don't want to see ugliness on the front page).

Second: not enough people have upvoted the story to counteract the number of comments on the thread, which is part of the signal HN uses to automatically detect threads with flamewar characteristics.

[keerthiko]

Yeah, I believe HN probably uses large number of downvoted comments and downvotes in general to also identify flamewar fodder, and these topics spawn a lot of those. I do believe this article deserves to stay at the top longer, and mods should do something about it.

[tomlock]

I +1'd your comment, but I think the algorithm hasn't worked in this instance.

The fact there would be a flamewar about someones experiences at a tech event says more about the culture of tech than that article about michelin star reviewers that is on the frontpage at the moment.

edit: But I did like that michelin-focused article :D

[tptacek]

Oh, I'm not saying it's working. I mean: this comment thread is a full-on unproductive flamewar, but I think the immune system on HN should probably let this particular fever burn itself out.